UP NEXT
For the second time in three weeks the Arizona State women's soccer team will hit the road as the Sun Devils travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Washington (Thursday at 4 p.m. PT) and Washington State (Sunday at 11 a.m. PT).
ASU (5-4-2, 0-2-1 Pac-12) comes into this week's action looking for its first Pac-12 win. The Sun Devils dropped their Pac-12 opener 2-0 at UCLA (Sept. 22). Last week they tied Utah 1-1 (2OT) on Thursday before being edged by Colorado 1-0 on Sunday. Like ASU, both Washington (5-6-1, 0-3 Pac-12) and Washington State (5-5-1, 0-3 Pac-12) are also searching for their first conference win. Most recently UW and WSU dropped both contests on last week's road trip to the Bay Area.
The Sun Devils are currently in a stretch in which they are playing five of their first eight Pac-12 contests away from home. After this week's games the Sun Devils will return home to host No. 7 USC (Oct. 15) before going back on the road for games at Oregon State (Oct. 20) and Oregon (Oct. 23).
COVERAGE
Thursday's game at Washington can be seen live on Pac-12 Arizona and Pac-12 Washington (Ann Schatz and Aly Wagner will call the game) and Sunday's game at Washington State can be seen live on Pac-12 Washington (Troy Clardy and Danielle Slaton will have the call). A tape-delayed broadcast of ASU's game at Washington State will air on Pac-12 Arizona at 5 p.m. Fans can also follow on Twitter (@ASUSoccer) for in-game updates from both games.
LAST WEEK
• In their first two Pac-12 home games of the season, the Sun Devils tied Utah 1-1 (2OT) and fell to Colorado 1-0.
• Against Utah the Sun Devils gave up a goal in the 44th minute before tying it on Jazmarie Mader's team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute. Larisa Staub nearly won the game in the 107th minute, but her shot from the top of the 18 hit the post. Melinda Gutierrez (outside back) and Keeley Gormley (midfield) both recorded their first start of the season against Utah. It was the second career start for both players, who were also in the starting lineup for ASU's game at UCLA last season that ended in a 1-1 tie.
• On Sunday against Colorado the Buffaloes scored the game's only goal on a free kick from the 18 in the 45th minute of play. On the play in which the Sun Devils were whistled for the foul, Sun Devil defenders Mckenzie Grossman and Madison Stark collided with one another as they both went up to challenge a Colorado player for a ball in the air. Both Grossman and Stark would not return to the game.
SERIES HISTORY
ASU is 6-9-4 in its all-time meetings against Washington. Last year's 2-1 (2OT) win was only ASU's second against Washington since 2008 and its first in Seattle since the 2005 season. Current Sun Devil Jessica Raybe would go on to earn National Player of the Week honors after she scored ASU's first goal in the 12th minute and then set up the game-winning penalty kick in the 105th minute. Former Sun Devil Whitney Kanavel was successful on the PK giving ASU the 2-1 win. In the seven games the two teams have played since 2009, two have ended in ties (1-1 in 2009 and 0-0 in 2013) and the other five have been decided by a single goal.
The Sun Devils lead the all-time series against Washington State 12-8-1. The two teams combined for only two goals in the three meetings prior to Washington State's 2-1 win last season in Tempe. In last year's game the Sun Devils outshot WSU 24-6, including 15-1 advantage during a scoreless first half. The Cougars scored both of their goals in the first eight minutes of the second half. Current Sun Devil Larisa Staub got ASU on the board in the 66th minute, but the Sun Devils were unable to find the equalizer over the last 24-plus minutes of the game. Neither team has scored more than two goals against the other since 2005, which is also the last time one team beat the other by more than one goal (ASU won 4-2 in Pullman).
MADER LEADS SUN DEVIL ATTACK
Jazmarie Mader has emerged as ASU's offensive star in 2016. The junior forward, who came into this season with four goals in 39 career games (15 starts), has already tallied a team-high seven goals in 2016 (11 games). Mader enters Thursday's game tied for third in the Pac-12 in goals (7) and tied for sixth in points (14). ASU's game vs. CSUF (Sept 16) snapped a six-game streak in which Mader scored a goal. She came within two games of tying former Sun Devil Cali Farquharson's school record of scoring a goal in eight straight games. Mader has ASU's only goal in Pac-12 play which came in the 81st minute of ASU's eventual 1-1 (2OT) tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29).
IN CASE YOU ARE JUST JOINING US
ASU entered the 2016 season looking to replace eight key contributors from last year's squad. Among the players lost to graduation were the program's No. 2 all-time leader in goals and points (Cali Farquharson), the program's all-time leader in career shutouts (Chandler Morris), three of the team's mainstays in the midfield (Tommi Goodman, Whitney Kanavel and Mackenzie Semerad) and three starting defenders (McKenzie Berryhill, Alyssa Martinez and Sara Tosti). Farquharson, Berryhill, Goodman, Semerad and Tosti all went on to play professionally.
ASU returns four full-time starters in 2016 who have all been impact players over the course of their respective careers. Leading the way are junior defender Madison Stark (2015 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and NSCAA Third-Team All-Region) and junior forward Aly Moon (2015 Pac-12 Honorable Mention). Stark has played and started in 50 of ASU's 51 games over the last three seasons (only game she missed was due to injury in 2015) while Moon (45 starts in 48 career games) is ASU's active career leader in goals (15) and points (42). Stark did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado (Oct. 2) after she collided with fellow defender Mckenzie Grossman as the two went up to challenge a CU player for a ball in the air. Moon left the second half of ASU's game at UCLA (Sept. 22) after a collision with UCLA's goalkeeper. She did not play in ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29) and its 1-0 loss to Colorado (Oct. 2).
Also returning for the Sun Devils are redshirt senior midfielder Lucy Lara (ASU's most experienced player in the midfield – 63 career games/42 starts – and active career leader in assists with 13) and Grossman (key contributor on ASU's back line, who has started 56 of 67 contests since 2013 and was named the team's Defensive MVP in 2015). Lara scored a goal and assisted on another in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26). She added another assist in ASU's win over NIU (Sept. 11) and she scored her second goal of the season in ASU's win over CSUF (Sept. 16). Grossman (held out for precautionary reasons) missed only the third game of her career in ASU's 2-0 loss at UCLA in the Sun Devils' Pac-12 opener (Sept. 22). It snapped a streak of 48 straight games in which she played. Grossman did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado after the aforementioned collision with Stark.
Other returners adding to ASU's offensive firepower include junior forward Jessica Raybe, who finished second on the team in goals (5) and fourth on the team in points (10) in 2015, senior forward Larisa Staub (four career goals) and sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco, who is currently second on the team with three goals.
DEVILS HAVE HAD SEVERAL CONTRIBUTORS ON OFFENSIVE END
ASU has had eight different players score goals this season. In addition to Mader (7), also finding the back of the next this season have been Orozco (3), Lara (2), freshman forward Christina Edwards (1), junior midfielder Madison Kmetko (1), Moon (1) Raybe (1) and Staub (1). Mader currently leads ASU in points (14/seven goals) while Orozco is second with eight (three goals, two assists).
NEW FACES PATROLLING THE NET
ASU entered fall camp with three players – redshirt junior Megan Delaney, sophomore Sydney Day and Malsy (redshirt junior Ashley March was sidelined due to injury) – vying to take the place of Chandler Morris, who was ASU's starter at goalkeeper the last four seasons and ended her career as the team's all-time leader in career shutouts.
A two-year starter at Texas A&M Corpus Christi before joining the Sun Devils last spring, Delaney would go on to earn the spot and started each of the first five games. Delaney proved to be more than up to the challenge as she combined for 15 saves in her first two games as a Sun Devil. She collected her first shutout as a Sun Devil in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26) and added another in ASU's 3-0 win over Columbia (Sept. 2). The 10 saves Delaney made in ASU's 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21) represent the second-highest, single-game total in the Pac-12 in 2016. Day played all of ASU's exhibition contest vs. Beijing Normal (Aug. 27) and Malsy started the second half of ASU's game vs. Denver (Sept. 4) and has started each of ASU's last six games. Malsy earned her first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on (Sept. 16). Malsy has made five or more saves five times, including a season-high six in ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA (Sept. 22).
COLLEEN BOYD JOINS SUN DEVIL SOCCER COACHING STAFF
Colleen Boyd joined the Sun Devil soccer coaching staff in March after serving as an assistant coach for two seasons at CSUN. Boyd's primary responsibility was working with the goalkeepers. Under her tutelage, Matador goalkeepers went from posting two shutouts in 2013 (the season before her arrival) to a combined 15 over the next two seasons. Boyd's instruction also played a major role in the marked improvement CSUN had in goals-against average going from 1.64 in 2013 to a combined 1.12 in 2014 and 2015. Most importantly, CSUN's 11 wins in 2015 tied the second-highest win total in program history. In July, Boyd was selected for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's 30 Under 30 Program. Boyd was chosen for the program from a pool of 350 applicants. This year's group of coaches (comprised of 15 men and 15 women) comes from the youth game through the college ranks. The NSCAA 30 Under 30 program is designed to give participants exposure to the Association's membership, and the opportunity to take advantage of educational offerings, such as diplomas and the NSCAA Convention.
NEW ADDITIONS
In February Kevin Boyd ASU's signing class of Christina Edwards, Olivia Hernandez, Devyn Kelsey, Emma Malsy, and Hailey Zerbel.
"Once again we think we have put together a very good class, not only in the talent that they bring, but the character that they bring," said Boyd, when the class was signed. "We are losing 10 players to graduation, five of which are going on to professional careers so there is a lot of great talent that we have to replace. We feel like the players that make up this class have the potential to not just simply step in and fill a void, but to come in and have an immediate impact in our program."
A two-time 5A Girls State Player of the Year (2014, 2015) for Summit High School (Bend, Oregon), Edwards' career statistics with Summit included 70 goals/29 assists. In her first game as a Sun Devil, Edwards accounted for a goal (ASU's first of 2016) and an assist in the span of less than three minutes in ASU's 2-1, season-opening win at Boston University (Aug. 19). She assisted on Jazmarie Mader's game-tying goal in the 81st minute of ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29).
Kelsey, out of Los Osos High School (Rancho Cucamonga, California), was selected for the U18 U.S. and U19 U.S. National Team Camps. She was a team captain in 2015-2016 and was a three-time team MVP. Kelsey has started all 11 contests at center back. She recorded her first career assist at Boston College (Aug. 21), setting up Jazmarie Mader's goal.
Named to the Arizona Republic's 2016 All-State (Division II) First Team, Hernandez scored 141 goals for Westview High School (Avondale, Arizona). She spent four years with the ODP state team (2012-15), where she was a part of the 2015 Region IV Team and Interregional Tournament All-Star Team. Hernandez recorded her first career assist at Boston University (Aug. 19), setting up fellow freshman Edwards. She added her second assist (set up Adriana Orozco's goal) in ASU's win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26) and is currently tied with Orozco, Natalie Stephens, Lara, Kylie Miniefield and Edwards for the team lead in assists (2).
Malsy was a four-year starting varsity goalkeeper and team captain for Ocean View High School (Huntington Beach, California), who earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 5 distinction in 2016. Malsy made her Sun Devil debut on Sept. 4 as she started the second half of ASU's contest vs. Denver. She has started each of ASU's last six games (earned first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on Sept. 16).
Zerbel was named 2016 Palomares League and CIF-SS Division 3 MVP following a season in which she helped lead her South Hills High School (West Covina, California) team to the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship, and CIF-State Southern California Region Division III title for the first time in school history. Zerbel has played in all 11 contests at outside back and has recorded six starts thus far.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
• Six Sun Devils have started every game this season: Fr. D Devyn Kelsey, RS Sr. M Lucy Lara, Jr. F Jazmarie Mader, RS Fr. M Kylie Miniefield, Jr. defender Madison Stark and So. F Natalie Stephens. Miniefield, who missed all of 2015 due to a knee injury, has started every game in the Sun Devil midfield this season. Grossman (10/10) and Moon (9/9) have both started every game they have played in. Other Sun Devils with at least five starts this season include junior forward Jessica Raybe (eight starts), freshman defender Hailey Zerbel (six starts) and junior defender Taylor Coon (five starts).
• In its four losses this season ASU outshot the opposition a combined 63-40 and had a 27-12 advantage in corner kicks, but was outscored 8-2 in the four games.
• ASU's earlier streak of scoring at least one goal in eight straight games was its longest in-season streak since it scored in each of its first 13 games in 2014. ASU's 2-0 loss at No. 11 UCLA (Sept. 22) represented the first time ASU did not score a goal this season.
• Going back to 2012, ASU has won 40 of the 47 contests in which it has scored first (40-4-3). ASU's 2-1 loss at Washington on Oct. 10, 2014 ended a 24-game unbeaten streak for ASU in games in which it had scored first (22-0-2). The other games ASU has not won in the aforementioned stretch are a 1-1 tie at Oregon State (Oct. 19, 2012), a 1-1 tie vs. top-ranked UCLA (Sept. 26, 2014), a 2-1 loss at USC (Oct. 9, 2015), a 2-1 overtime loss at Utah (Oct. 30, 2015), a 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21, 2016) and a 2-1 loss (2 OTs) vs. San Francisco (Sept. 9, 2016).
• ASU's 2016 schedule includes nine teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year: Arizona (third round), Boston University (second round), Boston College (first round), California (first round), Cal State Fullerton (first round), Stanford (fourth round), USC (third round), Washington (first round) and Washington State (first round). Of ASU's 19 regular season opponents, 11 had winning records last season.
• After finishing tied for sixth last season, the Sun Devils were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 by the league's coaches.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Since 2007 (Kevin Boyd's first season at ASU) the Sun Devil soccer program leads the Pac-12 in the number of All-Academic first-team awards (25) and the number of first- and second-team awards (39). ASU has had 10 or more players named to the league's All-Academic teams in all nine of Boyd's seasons as head coach. A program record 15 student-athletes earned Pac-12 All-Academic recognition in 2015. It broke the previous program record of 14 set by the 2011 squad. ASU's five combined first- (2) and second-team (3) awards were the most of any school in the conference in 2015.
For the second time in three weeks the Arizona State women's soccer team will hit the road as the Sun Devils travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Washington (Thursday at 4 p.m. PT) and Washington State (Sunday at 11 a.m. PT).
ASU (5-4-2, 0-2-1 Pac-12) comes into this week's action looking for its first Pac-12 win. The Sun Devils dropped their Pac-12 opener 2-0 at UCLA (Sept. 22). Last week they tied Utah 1-1 (2OT) on Thursday before being edged by Colorado 1-0 on Sunday. Like ASU, both Washington (5-6-1, 0-3 Pac-12) and Washington State (5-5-1, 0-3 Pac-12) are also searching for their first conference win. Most recently UW and WSU dropped both contests on last week's road trip to the Bay Area.
The Sun Devils are currently in a stretch in which they are playing five of their first eight Pac-12 contests away from home. After this week's games the Sun Devils will return home to host No. 7 USC (Oct. 15) before going back on the road for games at Oregon State (Oct. 20) and Oregon (Oct. 23).
COVERAGE
Thursday's game at Washington can be seen live on Pac-12 Arizona and Pac-12 Washington (Ann Schatz and Aly Wagner will call the game) and Sunday's game at Washington State can be seen live on Pac-12 Washington (Troy Clardy and Danielle Slaton will have the call). A tape-delayed broadcast of ASU's game at Washington State will air on Pac-12 Arizona at 5 p.m. Fans can also follow on Twitter (@ASUSoccer) for in-game updates from both games.
LAST WEEK
• In their first two Pac-12 home games of the season, the Sun Devils tied Utah 1-1 (2OT) and fell to Colorado 1-0.
• Against Utah the Sun Devils gave up a goal in the 44th minute before tying it on Jazmarie Mader's team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute. Larisa Staub nearly won the game in the 107th minute, but her shot from the top of the 18 hit the post. Melinda Gutierrez (outside back) and Keeley Gormley (midfield) both recorded their first start of the season against Utah. It was the second career start for both players, who were also in the starting lineup for ASU's game at UCLA last season that ended in a 1-1 tie.
• On Sunday against Colorado the Buffaloes scored the game's only goal on a free kick from the 18 in the 45th minute of play. On the play in which the Sun Devils were whistled for the foul, Sun Devil defenders Mckenzie Grossman and Madison Stark collided with one another as they both went up to challenge a Colorado player for a ball in the air. Both Grossman and Stark would not return to the game.
SERIES HISTORY
ASU is 6-9-4 in its all-time meetings against Washington. Last year's 2-1 (2OT) win was only ASU's second against Washington since 2008 and its first in Seattle since the 2005 season. Current Sun Devil Jessica Raybe would go on to earn National Player of the Week honors after she scored ASU's first goal in the 12th minute and then set up the game-winning penalty kick in the 105th minute. Former Sun Devil Whitney Kanavel was successful on the PK giving ASU the 2-1 win. In the seven games the two teams have played since 2009, two have ended in ties (1-1 in 2009 and 0-0 in 2013) and the other five have been decided by a single goal.
The Sun Devils lead the all-time series against Washington State 12-8-1. The two teams combined for only two goals in the three meetings prior to Washington State's 2-1 win last season in Tempe. In last year's game the Sun Devils outshot WSU 24-6, including 15-1 advantage during a scoreless first half. The Cougars scored both of their goals in the first eight minutes of the second half. Current Sun Devil Larisa Staub got ASU on the board in the 66th minute, but the Sun Devils were unable to find the equalizer over the last 24-plus minutes of the game. Neither team has scored more than two goals against the other since 2005, which is also the last time one team beat the other by more than one goal (ASU won 4-2 in Pullman).
MADER LEADS SUN DEVIL ATTACK
Jazmarie Mader has emerged as ASU's offensive star in 2016. The junior forward, who came into this season with four goals in 39 career games (15 starts), has already tallied a team-high seven goals in 2016 (11 games). Mader enters Thursday's game tied for third in the Pac-12 in goals (7) and tied for sixth in points (14). ASU's game vs. CSUF (Sept 16) snapped a six-game streak in which Mader scored a goal. She came within two games of tying former Sun Devil Cali Farquharson's school record of scoring a goal in eight straight games. Mader has ASU's only goal in Pac-12 play which came in the 81st minute of ASU's eventual 1-1 (2OT) tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29).
IN CASE YOU ARE JUST JOINING US
ASU entered the 2016 season looking to replace eight key contributors from last year's squad. Among the players lost to graduation were the program's No. 2 all-time leader in goals and points (Cali Farquharson), the program's all-time leader in career shutouts (Chandler Morris), three of the team's mainstays in the midfield (Tommi Goodman, Whitney Kanavel and Mackenzie Semerad) and three starting defenders (McKenzie Berryhill, Alyssa Martinez and Sara Tosti). Farquharson, Berryhill, Goodman, Semerad and Tosti all went on to play professionally.
ASU returns four full-time starters in 2016 who have all been impact players over the course of their respective careers. Leading the way are junior defender Madison Stark (2015 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and NSCAA Third-Team All-Region) and junior forward Aly Moon (2015 Pac-12 Honorable Mention). Stark has played and started in 50 of ASU's 51 games over the last three seasons (only game she missed was due to injury in 2015) while Moon (45 starts in 48 career games) is ASU's active career leader in goals (15) and points (42). Stark did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado (Oct. 2) after she collided with fellow defender Mckenzie Grossman as the two went up to challenge a CU player for a ball in the air. Moon left the second half of ASU's game at UCLA (Sept. 22) after a collision with UCLA's goalkeeper. She did not play in ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29) and its 1-0 loss to Colorado (Oct. 2).
Also returning for the Sun Devils are redshirt senior midfielder Lucy Lara (ASU's most experienced player in the midfield – 63 career games/42 starts – and active career leader in assists with 13) and Grossman (key contributor on ASU's back line, who has started 56 of 67 contests since 2013 and was named the team's Defensive MVP in 2015). Lara scored a goal and assisted on another in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26). She added another assist in ASU's win over NIU (Sept. 11) and she scored her second goal of the season in ASU's win over CSUF (Sept. 16). Grossman (held out for precautionary reasons) missed only the third game of her career in ASU's 2-0 loss at UCLA in the Sun Devils' Pac-12 opener (Sept. 22). It snapped a streak of 48 straight games in which she played. Grossman did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado after the aforementioned collision with Stark.
Other returners adding to ASU's offensive firepower include junior forward Jessica Raybe, who finished second on the team in goals (5) and fourth on the team in points (10) in 2015, senior forward Larisa Staub (four career goals) and sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco, who is currently second on the team with three goals.
DEVILS HAVE HAD SEVERAL CONTRIBUTORS ON OFFENSIVE END
ASU has had eight different players score goals this season. In addition to Mader (7), also finding the back of the next this season have been Orozco (3), Lara (2), freshman forward Christina Edwards (1), junior midfielder Madison Kmetko (1), Moon (1) Raybe (1) and Staub (1). Mader currently leads ASU in points (14/seven goals) while Orozco is second with eight (three goals, two assists).
NEW FACES PATROLLING THE NET
ASU entered fall camp with three players – redshirt junior Megan Delaney, sophomore Sydney Day and Malsy (redshirt junior Ashley March was sidelined due to injury) – vying to take the place of Chandler Morris, who was ASU's starter at goalkeeper the last four seasons and ended her career as the team's all-time leader in career shutouts.
A two-year starter at Texas A&M Corpus Christi before joining the Sun Devils last spring, Delaney would go on to earn the spot and started each of the first five games. Delaney proved to be more than up to the challenge as she combined for 15 saves in her first two games as a Sun Devil. She collected her first shutout as a Sun Devil in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26) and added another in ASU's 3-0 win over Columbia (Sept. 2). The 10 saves Delaney made in ASU's 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21) represent the second-highest, single-game total in the Pac-12 in 2016. Day played all of ASU's exhibition contest vs. Beijing Normal (Aug. 27) and Malsy started the second half of ASU's game vs. Denver (Sept. 4) and has started each of ASU's last six games. Malsy earned her first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on (Sept. 16). Malsy has made five or more saves five times, including a season-high six in ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA (Sept. 22).
COLLEEN BOYD JOINS SUN DEVIL SOCCER COACHING STAFF
Colleen Boyd joined the Sun Devil soccer coaching staff in March after serving as an assistant coach for two seasons at CSUN. Boyd's primary responsibility was working with the goalkeepers. Under her tutelage, Matador goalkeepers went from posting two shutouts in 2013 (the season before her arrival) to a combined 15 over the next two seasons. Boyd's instruction also played a major role in the marked improvement CSUN had in goals-against average going from 1.64 in 2013 to a combined 1.12 in 2014 and 2015. Most importantly, CSUN's 11 wins in 2015 tied the second-highest win total in program history. In July, Boyd was selected for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's 30 Under 30 Program. Boyd was chosen for the program from a pool of 350 applicants. This year's group of coaches (comprised of 15 men and 15 women) comes from the youth game through the college ranks. The NSCAA 30 Under 30 program is designed to give participants exposure to the Association's membership, and the opportunity to take advantage of educational offerings, such as diplomas and the NSCAA Convention.
NEW ADDITIONS
In February Kevin Boyd ASU's signing class of Christina Edwards, Olivia Hernandez, Devyn Kelsey, Emma Malsy, and Hailey Zerbel.
"Once again we think we have put together a very good class, not only in the talent that they bring, but the character that they bring," said Boyd, when the class was signed. "We are losing 10 players to graduation, five of which are going on to professional careers so there is a lot of great talent that we have to replace. We feel like the players that make up this class have the potential to not just simply step in and fill a void, but to come in and have an immediate impact in our program."
A two-time 5A Girls State Player of the Year (2014, 2015) for Summit High School (Bend, Oregon), Edwards' career statistics with Summit included 70 goals/29 assists. In her first game as a Sun Devil, Edwards accounted for a goal (ASU's first of 2016) and an assist in the span of less than three minutes in ASU's 2-1, season-opening win at Boston University (Aug. 19). She assisted on Jazmarie Mader's game-tying goal in the 81st minute of ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29).
Kelsey, out of Los Osos High School (Rancho Cucamonga, California), was selected for the U18 U.S. and U19 U.S. National Team Camps. She was a team captain in 2015-2016 and was a three-time team MVP. Kelsey has started all 11 contests at center back. She recorded her first career assist at Boston College (Aug. 21), setting up Jazmarie Mader's goal.
Named to the Arizona Republic's 2016 All-State (Division II) First Team, Hernandez scored 141 goals for Westview High School (Avondale, Arizona). She spent four years with the ODP state team (2012-15), where she was a part of the 2015 Region IV Team and Interregional Tournament All-Star Team. Hernandez recorded her first career assist at Boston University (Aug. 19), setting up fellow freshman Edwards. She added her second assist (set up Adriana Orozco's goal) in ASU's win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26) and is currently tied with Orozco, Natalie Stephens, Lara, Kylie Miniefield and Edwards for the team lead in assists (2).
Malsy was a four-year starting varsity goalkeeper and team captain for Ocean View High School (Huntington Beach, California), who earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 5 distinction in 2016. Malsy made her Sun Devil debut on Sept. 4 as she started the second half of ASU's contest vs. Denver. She has started each of ASU's last six games (earned first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on Sept. 16).
Zerbel was named 2016 Palomares League and CIF-SS Division 3 MVP following a season in which she helped lead her South Hills High School (West Covina, California) team to the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship, and CIF-State Southern California Region Division III title for the first time in school history. Zerbel has played in all 11 contests at outside back and has recorded six starts thus far.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
• Six Sun Devils have started every game this season: Fr. D Devyn Kelsey, RS Sr. M Lucy Lara, Jr. F Jazmarie Mader, RS Fr. M Kylie Miniefield, Jr. defender Madison Stark and So. F Natalie Stephens. Miniefield, who missed all of 2015 due to a knee injury, has started every game in the Sun Devil midfield this season. Grossman (10/10) and Moon (9/9) have both started every game they have played in. Other Sun Devils with at least five starts this season include junior forward Jessica Raybe (eight starts), freshman defender Hailey Zerbel (six starts) and junior defender Taylor Coon (five starts).
• In its four losses this season ASU outshot the opposition a combined 63-40 and had a 27-12 advantage in corner kicks, but was outscored 8-2 in the four games.
• ASU's earlier streak of scoring at least one goal in eight straight games was its longest in-season streak since it scored in each of its first 13 games in 2014. ASU's 2-0 loss at No. 11 UCLA (Sept. 22) represented the first time ASU did not score a goal this season.
• Going back to 2012, ASU has won 40 of the 47 contests in which it has scored first (40-4-3). ASU's 2-1 loss at Washington on Oct. 10, 2014 ended a 24-game unbeaten streak for ASU in games in which it had scored first (22-0-2). The other games ASU has not won in the aforementioned stretch are a 1-1 tie at Oregon State (Oct. 19, 2012), a 1-1 tie vs. top-ranked UCLA (Sept. 26, 2014), a 2-1 loss at USC (Oct. 9, 2015), a 2-1 overtime loss at Utah (Oct. 30, 2015), a 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21, 2016) and a 2-1 loss (2 OTs) vs. San Francisco (Sept. 9, 2016).
• ASU's 2016 schedule includes nine teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year: Arizona (third round), Boston University (second round), Boston College (first round), California (first round), Cal State Fullerton (first round), Stanford (fourth round), USC (third round), Washington (first round) and Washington State (first round). Of ASU's 19 regular season opponents, 11 had winning records last season.
• After finishing tied for sixth last season, the Sun Devils were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 by the league's coaches.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Since 2007 (Kevin Boyd's first season at ASU) the Sun Devil soccer program leads the Pac-12 in the number of All-Academic first-team awards (25) and the number of first- and second-team awards (39). ASU has had 10 or more players named to the league's All-Academic teams in all nine of Boyd's seasons as head coach. A program record 15 student-athletes earned Pac-12 All-Academic recognition in 2015. It broke the previous program record of 14 set by the 2011 squad. ASU's five combined first- (2) and second-team (3) awards were the most of any school in the conference in 2015.